Armenia intended to apply to the Venice Commission in the period of referendum, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a news conference today.
“Our forecast is that at least for a year coronavirus will exist in our reality, which means that at least for a year we cannot have a referendum,” he said.
The head of the government stressed that they cannot rank the political interest higher than the public health interest.
“It is impossible to conduct referendum, on the other hand we cannot wait for the solution of the issue of the Constitutional Court until the end of the coronavirus epidemic. Even if we wait for so long we will soon set a commission on constitutional amendments and will conduct a referendum, according to initial calculations, in June 2021,” he said.
Nikol Pashinyan said that they have applied to the Venice Commission and discuss the issue to solve the issue fully or partially at the NA.
“It is obvious for me that we cannot conduct referendum by May 2021 but neither we can wait for so long, consequently, there is no problem for us and our international partners to regulate our work and get effective solutions via consensus,” the PM said.
15:37, 8 May, 2020
YEREVAN, MAY 8, ARMENPRESS. Parliament Majority Leader Lilit Makunts has apologized on behalf of the My Step bloc to citizens who witnessed the brawl in parliament.
She said she believes the incident is a result of a provocation made by Bright Armenia (LHK) opposition party. Makunts said she thinks LHK started the provocations after parliament passed the Stolen Asset Recovery bill, which LHK turned down.
“First of all, on behalf of My Step faction I would like to apologize to all our citizens who witnessed the incident. On behalf of My Step, I feel very sorry that the faction gave in to provocations,” she said.
Makunts said the LHK has been attempting for already a few weeks to embroil and provoke My Step into such incidents
She emphasized that there is no justification for the incident.
“At the same time, I would like to note that the Bright Armenia faction is bringing to parliament not their own agenda, but the agenda of some unclear, outside hooligan groups,” Makunts said.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
Tuesday, May 5, 2020 Armenian Environment Minister Resigns Armenia -- Environment Minister Erik Grigorian speaks to RFE/RL, Yerevan, July 23, 2019 Armenia’s Environment Minister Erik Grigorian stepped down for unknown reasons on Tuesday. Grigorian did not explain his resignation which was promptly accepted by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. He was formally relieved of his duties by President Armen Sarkissian. Pashinian also did not comment on the resignation. Nor did he immediately name Grigorian’s replacement. “It is everybody’s duty to protect the environment, regardless of our profession, field of work and preferences,” Grigorian wrote on his Facebook page hours before the official confirmation of his resignation. Grigorian, 40, was appointed as environment minister in May 2018 following the “Velvet Revolution” that brought Pashinian to power. He served as first deputy environment minister in 2017-2018. In 2017, he was also an assistant to then Prime Minister Karen Karapetian. Provincial Medical Centers To Reopen After COVID-19 Outbreak Armenia -- The Nork hospital in Yerevan specializing in treatment of infectious diseases, March 24, 2020. A hospital and a policlinic in a small town in eastern Armenia will resume their work on Wednesday more than two weeks after dozens of their employees were infected with coronavirus. Authorities sealed off the town of Vartenis on April 22 after registering 47 cases of coronavirus there. They said that 21 of the infected people are doctors, nurses and other people working at the local medical centers. One of them, a policlinic doctor, was identified as the primary source of the COVID-19 outbreak in the local community 160 kilometers northeast of Yerevan. Both facilities were temporarily shut down and their staff placed under quarantine as a result. Gnel Sanosian, the governor of the surrounding Gegharkunik province, announced on Tuesday that all 76 employees of the hospital and the 64 policlinic staffers tested negative for the virus at the end of the two-week isolation. Sanosian said that the hospital and the policlinic will therefore be reopened on Wednesday. They will follow “all necessary anti-epidemic rules,” he added in a Facebook post. All roads leading to Vartenis will remain closed at least until Thursday. It is not yet clear whether the authorities will extend the lockdown later this week. Health Minister Arsen Torosian has described mass infections among medical personnel as one of the factors behind the continuing spread of coronavirus in Armenia. According to him, 320 healthcare workers across Armenia have contracted the disease so far, accounting for more than 12 percent of all coronavirus cases confirmed to date. “This is certainly a very unfortunate but the same time inevitable phenomenon,” Torosian wrote on Facebook on Sunday. “You can probably imagine how difficult things get for the healthcare system when it has to treat or isolate people who themselves are supposed to treat coronavirus patients.” Torosian also said that his ministry had ordered medics who are aged over 60 or suffer from serious chronic illness to stay at home as much as possible. This has helped to prevent coronavirus-related deaths among doctors and nurses, he said. The Ministry of Health reported on Tuesday morning that the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country rose by 112 to 2,619 in the past day. It also said that the death toll from the virus reached 40. Torosian warned on Monday that the number of the cases could quadruple by the end of this month if Armenians fail to observe physical distancing and take other precautions against the virus. The warning came as the Armenian government essentially ended a nationwide lockdown imposed in late March. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Sunday that citizens must now share with the government “responsibility” for tackling the epidemic and minimizing its consequences. Yerevan Expects More Gas Talks With Moscow Armenia -- Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian speaks at a press conference, Yerevan, April 21, 2020. Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian has said that Armenia will hold further discussions with Russia on the price of Russian natural gas which Yerevan hopes will be reduced soon. The Armenian government effectively requested a price cut with a letter sent by Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian to the chairman of Russia’s Gazprom energy giant, Alexei Miller, in late March. Grigorian argued, among other things, that international oil prices, which essentially determine the cost of Russian gas supplied to Europe, have fallen sharply due to the coronavirus pandemic. Miller responded by indicating that it is up to the governments of the two countries to agree on the Russian gas price for Armenia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian discussed the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an April 6 phone call. Two weeks later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed complaints that European Union member states are now paying less for Russian gas than Armenia and Belarus because of the collapse in international oil prices. He argued that that unlike EU consumers, the two ex-Soviet states allied to Russia buy Russian gas at fixed prices that had been set well below international market-based levels. Grigorian countered that Russian natural gas has never been as cheap for Armenia as was claimed by Lavrov. He also dismissed Lavrov’s criticism of ongoing criminal investigations into major Russian companies operating in Armenia and the state-owned Russia Railways network in particular. Mnatsakanian admitted on Monday the existence of problematic “issues” in Russian-Armenian relations while emphasizing that the two countries remain close allies. “The gas issue is extremely important for Armenia, and we are going to continue to discuss it with our Russian partners,” he told journalists. Gazprom raised the wholesale price of its gas delivered to Armenia from $150 to $165 per thousand cubic meters in January 2019. Nevertheless the cost of gas supplied to Armenian households and businesses has remained unchanged since then. Armenia’s Gazprom-owned gas distribution network has incurred additional losses as a result. Last month it asked the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) to allow a roughly 11 percent rise in its retail prices. The request was filed one day after Grigorian’s letter to Miller. The PSRC has to decide by June 19 whether to approve or reject it. Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
The volumes of diamond production have significantly grown in Armenia, according to the data release by the country's National Statistical Service (NSS). The newly released data suggest, 89,352 carats diamonds were produced in January-February 2020, which is 2.1 times increase over the volumes produced during the mentioned period in previous year.
The total production of January-February 2019 amounted to 41,634 karats.
According to NSS data, 195kg of jewelry were produced in Armenia in the reporting period, which is 76.2% more to compare with the last year's volumes. To note, 110.7kg jewelry were produced in January-February 2019.
10:57,
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian parliament has approved amendments to the law regulating TV and radio broadcasting and reinstated the Public Television’s right to air commercial advertisements.
The Public TV will be entitled to air up to 5-minute ads during one-hour airtime. Social ads will be aired for free from 00:00 until 18:00. Gambling and nightclub ads are banned.
Reporting and writing by Anna Grigoryan
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
11:21, 6 April, 2020
YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS. 5 more citizens have recovered from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Armenia in the past one day, bringing the total number of recoveries to 62, the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention said today.
As of April 6, 11:00, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Armenia is 833.
8 deaths have been reported so far.
4,096 people tested negative.
At this moment, the number of active cases is 763.
On March 16 Armenia declared a 30-day state of emergency to battle the spread of COVID-19. The state of emergency is effective until April 14, 17:00.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1011260.html?fbclid=IwAR10qLy0Nwz00vygXFqWbkmAZi0iKDxDBq1dgku7pDaf2iOBgfaXrby4jcE
For today's World Coronavirus update please see on Armenian News on FB today.
Four years have passed since the 2016 April War. Azerbaijan unleashed a large-scale offensive along the entire Artsakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact on the night of April 1 to 2, using almost all types of military equipment available in its arsenal.
Wide-scale military clashes started between the Armed Forces of the Republic of Artsakh and the Republic of Azerbaijan, which were later dubbed the Four-Day War or April War.
The military confrontation is considered to have taken place from April 2-5, but, in fact, the hostilities continued after those four days, when the first and strong momentum of the Azerbaijani attack was broken thanks to the heroic battles of the Armenian army.
Yes, the April War gave the Armenian people new heroes, unfortunately, at the cost of their lives.
Whereas the Azerbaijani side, which once again violated the ceasefire agreement signed by it 25 years ago, once again did not hesitate to resort to its practice of killing civilians, including the elderly, shooting at schools, killing and injuring children, "taking hostage" dead or wounded servicemen…
Criminal cases have been launched into the hostile actions of Azerbaijanis, not worthy of a man and a soldier.